Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has said this season was one of the most difficult times of his career, adding that talking to close ones about his battles helped save his life.

Everton avoided relegation this season after a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace in their penultimate league game last week, helped by a late winner by Calvert-Lewin.

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The England international made only 17 league appearances this season after suffering a setback in his recovery from a quadriceps injury and breaking a toe.

"On a personal note I have had to dig deep within myself at times this season and have endured some of the most difficult times of my career and my life to date," Calvert-Lewin said in a post on Instagram.

"To all the young kings suppressing emotion I advise you to talk, to a friend, family member or someone that will listen, talking saved my life.

"It will make you realise things are never as bad as they seem, and you'll discover that the paradox of true strength is being able to face your weaknesses."

Everton ended the season placed 16th in the Premier League to continue their 68-year top-flight stay.

Kylian Mbappe has said Liverpool were one of the clubs he spoke to before deciding to extend his stay at Paris Saint-Germain, and that he had also met with the Premier League side in 2017 when he was still at Monaco.

Mbappe had been widely tipped to join Real Madrid this summer but stunned the LaLiga champions by signing a contract extension until 2025 with PSG last week.

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Jurgen Klopp said earlier this month that Liverpool were interested in Mbappe and the player said there had been some contact.

"We talked a little bit, but not too much," Mbappe told the Daily Telegraph. "I talked to Liverpool because it's the favourite club of my mum, my mum loves Liverpool. I don't know why, you will have to ask her.

"It's a good club and we met them five years ago. When I was in Monaco I met them. It's a big club. Of course, it was between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in the end."

Liverpool and Madrid will meet in Paris in the Champions League final on Saturday.

Mbappe told a news conference on Monday that his decision to snub Madrid for PSG was not about money but rather about the "sporting project."

The forward denied that PSG offered him the club captaincy -- as well as input on transfer policy and other key decisions -- to persuade him to stay in Paris.

In the end, just like a title race or World Cup final, it was a saga that ran right to the end. After courting astronomical offers from his current club, Paris Saint-Germain, and LaLiga giants Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappe made his choice to stay in the French capital and now has the chance to not only build his own legacy, but build the project around him.

On Monday, he spoke of his belief in the PSG "project" rather than the money on offer: "Leaving my country wasn't the right thing. There's a sentimental aspect to this, and the sporting project has changed as well." But how did he get here? What was the critical moment in negotiations? And what's next for both teams?

ESPN's Julien Laurens, Rodrigo Faez and Alex Kirkland tell the story.

Mbappe gets the keys to PSG

After months of talks, negotiations, mind-changing moments, twists, meetings, huge bids, uncertainties and doubts, Mbappe waited until the end of it all and made his decision himself. On his own.

He listened to the opinions of his mum, Fayza, and his dad, Wilfried; he consulted with his lawyer, Delphine Verheyden, and even took phone calls from Emmanuel Macron, the French president, who asked him to stay in Paris. He received messages from some of the most powerful men in France, all of them saying the same thing.

In the final days leading up to his choice, his mum travelled to Qatar to meet with PSG's hierarchy, while Mbappe spent a day in Madrid. Everything had been building to this moment starting back in January, when ESPN reported of PSG's sudden optimism in being able to extend Mbappe's contract. The forward told both clubs back in February that he would do it his way in terms of deadlines, timings and ways of deciding. Last week, both clubs' final offers were on the table, and he was happy with both of them, but neither club knew what the outcome would be.

Real Madrid have tried to sign the France star since he was 11, making recruitment pushes several times (in 2011, 2016, 2017 and 2021, and again this summer) over the past 12 years. In the end, the French club needed him to stay. PSG's Doha-based ownership couldn't bear the thought of not having the biggest star playing for them while Qatar hosted the World Cup this summer. And while both clubs believed at some point that he would join the other side, he eventually decided to remain in Paris. It was not an easy call, but he felt it was the right one for him.

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So how will the deal work? At 23, he is now the highest-paid player in the world. He received a three-year contract, a salary of €57 million net per season, various bonuses potentially worth €300 million over the three years of the deal, sources told ESPN FC. But the most important thing is not even financial.

PSG have given him the "keys" to the club. He will have -- and already has had -- his say on the choice of manager, sporting director and probably players on the squad, too. Mbappe wanted to be the face, the head and the heart of the PSG project, and they've cleared a path so he can be just that.

From here, there is so much for him to achieve at the Parc des Princes: to beat Edinson Cavani's record as the club's all-time top scorer (he is already just 29 goals behind), to win PSG's first Champions League, to be a PSG player during the 2024 Olympic Games in the French capital and many more. The new chapter starts now. -- Laurens

PSG's next steps

With Mbappe's extension will come a lot more changes at PSG, and it didn't take long for the effect to ripple through the club.

Mbappe didn't want to work with Leonardo anymore, and on Saturday night, only a few hours after the official announcement of the forward's extension, PSG told the sporting director he was sacked. To replace him, as ESPN revealed on Saturday afternoon, Mbappe put forward the name of Luis Campos.

The pair worked together back in Monaco, where Campos always protected the young prodigy. (Mbappe joined the club's youth set-up in 2013, working his way up to the first team in 2016.) They were very close then, and still are, and the Portuguese is considered as the best talent-spotter and recruiter in European football.

Campos was also waiting for an opportunity like this; after three years as director of football in Monaco and then another three at Lille, he's set to arrive in the French capital after a brief stint advising Celta Vigo.

Sources told ESPN that Campos would have likely joined Real Madrid -- he spent a year as a scout for Real Madrid in 2012-13 -- had Mbappe decided to go to the Bernabeu; instead, they are expected to be reunited in Paris.

One of the first tasks awaiting Campos will be to reshape this squad as the Ligue 1 champions desperately need money to come in. He will have to recruit cleverly, too, though Mbappe's decision to stay could change everything for some players on PSG's radar. Midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who is also being pursued by Real Madrid and Liverpool, is reportedly considering the Parisians' offer more seriously than he was before. Ousmane Dembele is out of contract in Barcelona this summer, and suddenly, the possibility of joining his great friend Mbappe in Paris is a very interesting proposition. Paul Pogba is in the same category, considering the chance to form something special with his France teammates closer to home.

Mbappe wants a more balanced squad than the current one given their inability to get it done in Europe, but does that mean that he wants Neymar out? The Brazilian is certainly under pressure. In Doha, they've not been satisfied by his performances this season, or by his lifestyle, either. But he signed an expensive new contract of his own last May, meaning he would be tough to move out.

Then there is the question of the manager. Sources told ESPN that it's increasingly likely Mauricio Pochettino will be sacked as PSG look to start this new chapter with someone else. Beyond that, the list is long and varied: Julen Lopetegui, Marcelo Gallardo, Christophe Galtier, Joachim Low, Antonio Conte and Thiago Motta have all been discussed, with more candidates to be added. Zinedine Zidane, who didn't want to work with Leonardo either, is still the preferred choice, but the former Real Madrid manager will be hard to convince, especially after this battle with his own club over Mbappe.

The other main candidate at the moment is Ruben Amorim. The young Sporting Club de Portugal manager, 37, has done an incredible job in Lisbon winning the league last season and doing well in the Champions League. Luis Campos believes in him and wants him in Paris, though he has a release clause of €30m in Portugal.

The new few days will be crucial, but as part of his new deal, Mbappe will be a big part of the decision-making process. -- Laurens

Real Madrid's strategic error

Mbappe was supposed to be the foundation of Real Madrid's new sporting project. His pursuit has dictated the club's entire transfer strategy not just this summer, but in previous years, too. Madrid's limited spending -- Eduardo Camavinga is the only first-team player they've paid for since 2019 -- was designed with Mbappe in mind, as their relative frugality gave Madrid the funds to make bids worth up to €200m for him last summer.

It also enabled the club to make what was, according to sources, an unprecedented offer to Mbappe this year. (Madrid balked at giving him input at the executive level but were fine with giving him 100% of his image rights and a significant salary: the club was ready to pay him around €130m as a signing bonus, plus a significant salary.)

pic.twitter.com/m00Sii3A6l

— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) May 22, 2022

Yet building an entire strategy on the belief that Mbappe would keep his word and resist PSG's pressure now looks like a glaring strategic error, and the timing is awful, too. The only comparable signing in terms of age, profile and projection, Erling Haaland, is also beyond their reach -- for now, at least -- at Manchester City. Madrid were keen on Haaland, but Mbappe was always their top priority. The Norway international could have been pursued more aggressively had the club known how the Mbappe saga would end.

The truth is that with the sting of Mbappe's rejection still fresh, even Real Madrid don't know exactly how they're going to react. But nobody doubts that they will react. Missing out on Mbappe is arguably more of a blow in terms of image and prestige than in footballing terms -- Vinicius Junior's progression means a left-sided forward would not ordinarily be a priority -- but headline-grabbing action will be needed to mitigate some of the damage done and seize the initiative again.

There are different approaches available to them: The club could look to land another elite player, even if they might not match Mbappe's star power, or divide the money that had been allocated to the Mbappe deal between a handful of relatively smaller signings to strengthen multiple areas of the team. Monaco's Tchouameni has been a midfield candidate, and the Mbappe money would help Madrid compete for his signature with Premier League rivals. (It might also be a chance to save face against PSG, who are also interested in the young midfielder.)

In attack, a string of names will be linked as Mbappe alternatives. Could Madrid revive their previous interest in Barcelona target Robert Lewandowski? How about Barca's out-of-contract winger Dembele? Or Liverpool's Mohamed Salah? Or Tottenham's Harry Kane? Right now, those names are merely speculative, as the club was focused solely on landing Mbappe. Once the Champions League final with Liverpool is out of the way, Madrid will get to work on planning for life without him. -- Kirkland and Rodrigo Faez

The Florida Panthers have been swept out of the NHL postseason, falling 2-0 to host the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series on Monday.

Florida was the NHL's top-seeded team entering the playoffs, having earned the franchise's first Presidents' Trophy title on the strength of a 122-point campaign. The Panthers are now the first Presidents' Trophy winners to be swept from a playoff series since the 2019 Lightning were ousted by Columbus in the first round.

"It's a tough pill to swallow," Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. "Getting swept is tough. It hurts. It stings. There's no doubt about it."

Game 4 was a scoreless affair most of the way, until left winger Patrick Maroon tipped a point blast from Zach Bogosian past Sergei Bobrovsky in the third period. Ondrej Palat added an empty-netter in the final minute to seal Florida's fate.

The Panthers built their historic regular season on offensive success, pacing the NHL in average scoring (4.11 goals per game) thanks to enviable depth upfront. They were not shut out once through 82 games. In fact, the last time Florida did not score a goal in a game prior to Monday was Game 6 of their first-round series against Tampa last spring.

But all that firepower failed Florida when it mattered most.

The Panthers stumbled their way past Washington in the first round, winning in six games but requiring multiple come-from-behind performances to do so. That effort wouldn't suffice against reigning two-time Cup champion Tampa Bay.

Florida didn't score more than one goal in any of the four games against Tampa Bay. All the Panthers' top performers continuously came up empty. Jonathan Huberdeau was one of four 30-plus goal scorers in the Panthers' regular season and led the team with 115 points. He added only two assists against Tampa. Aleksander Barkov and Claude Giroux tallied one assist each. Sam Reinhart recorded a single goal, and it was the only one Florida scored on the power play the entire postseason.

The Panthers finished their postseason 1-for-31 on the man advantage.

"Special teams for me was an issue," said interim coach Andrew Brunette. "I take a lot of blame for the power play, that was my fault. Should be better, has to be better. Really disappointed in myself for that."

Andrei Vasilevskiy was spectacular for Tampa Bay in net, giving up only three goals in four games. He made 49 saves on Monday night.

In his last seven series-clinching games, Vasilevskiy has made 199 saves on 200 shots and recorded six shutouts.

Also impressive was Tampa completed its sweep of Florida without top forward Brayden Point, who's been sidelined by injury since Game 6 of the Lightning's first-round series against Toronto.

"They're Stanley Cup champions for a reason," said Brunette. "[They grew] from a high-flying offensive team and stuck with it. We aspire to be them."

Bobrovsky repeatedly gave the Panthers a chance to recover, though, not only in Game 4 but throughout the series. He registered a solid .908 SV% over the first three games and turned aside 23 shots trying to stave off elimination on Monday.

The Panthers just couldn't provide him any help.

"I think it was our best game this series," said Barkov of Game 4. "But it wasn't enough."

Florida even caught a couple breaks with two Tampa goals being disallowed in the second period.

The first review took over 10 minutes, as the NHL's situation room in Toronto tried to discern whether the puck had hit mesh prior to Lightning forward Alex Killorn's ice-breaking goal. Finally, a ruling came down that the puck had exited the surface of play. No goal for Tampa Bay.

The second review happened just minutes later. Nikita Kucherov snapped a wrister past Bobrovsky, but Florida challenged for a hand pass by Anthony Cirelli off the draw. It took less than two minutes for the verdict -- no goal.

The Panthers couldn't muster any goals of their own, and now they will face a long spring and summer ahead to examine what sent their postseason off the rails.

"I love this team," said Brunette, whose own future in Florida is still in flux. "Of course I'd love to [come back] but those are not really my decisions. I love this team, I love the group, I believe in it. I believe in them."

Avalanche center Nazem Kadri, who over the previous 48 hours was the subject of racist attacks and threats following his injurious collision with Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, recorded his first career playoff hat trick in Colorado's 6-3 Game 4 road win on Monday night, pushing St. Louis to the brink of elimination.

"Unfortunately, I've been dealing with that a long time. That's sad to say, but I'm getting good at putting in the rearview mirror. It's a big deal. I try to act like it's not. Just try to keep moving forward," Kadri told TNT in a postgame interview. "I know those messages I got don't reflect every single fan in St. Louis. But for those that hate, that one's for them."

There was increased police presence both at the Avalanche's team hotel in St. Louis and around the players' entrance to the ice at Enterprise Center after local law enforcement was called in to investigate the threats made toward Kadri, which came in the aftermath of Saturday's Game 3 win by Colorado. During the first period on Saturday, Kadri and Blues defenseman Calle Rosen crashed into Binnington while chasing a loose puck. Binnington, who had been outstanding in five postseason games for St. Louis, suffered a lower-body injury that took him out of not only the game but also the series.

There was no penalty called on Kadri on the play, and the NHL Department of Player Safety determined there was no supplemental discipline necessary for him. But Blues coach Craig Berube questioned Kadri's role in the injury.

"Look at Kadri's reputation. That's all I've got to say," he said of Kadri, who has multiple postseason suspensions, including an eight-game ban for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk in the 2021 playoffs.

Kadri said that Berube's comments upset him and provided fuel for his Game 4 effort, which helped Colorado take a 3-1 lead in its second-round playoff series.

"It started with their head coach, probably. He made some comments that I wasn't a fan of. I guess he's never heard of bulletin board material," Kadri said.

David Perron opened the scoring Monday night for the Blues, who were outplayed in the first period but carried that 1-0 lead into the second. Avs defenseman Erik Johnson's goal at 2:44 of the second period beat Ville Husso, whom Binnington had supplanted as Blues starter in the first round, to tie the game 1-1.

Kadri scored his first of the game just 1 minute, 23 seconds later, beating Husso on the rush and then motioning to the crowd with his hand to his ear.

Devon Toews scored 19 seconds after that for a 3-1 Colorado lead. Then Kadri finally drew the ire of the Blues.

The Avalanche center collided with Perron near the benches. St. Louis forward Pavel Buchnevich skated over and leveled Kadri for a roughing penalty. Perron then cross-checked Kadri to the ice and landed on top of him. As the linesmen pulled the players away, Kadri didn't engage with the Blues skaters, and Colorado earned a 5-on-3 power play.

Kadri scored his second of the game right after it expired to complete an Avalanche rally of four goals in 4:52.

"Our talk today coming into tonight's game was, 'Stay focused, we're here to win a hockey game.' The one guy I was kinda concerned about was Naz," said Colorado coach Jared Bednar, who praised Kadri's focus and discipline. "It's not about ego. It's not about settling scores. It's about winning the hockey game. That's what makes the biggest statement. No one wants it more than Naz."

Kadri completed the hat trick at 9:38 of the third period, beating Husso and extending the Colorado lead back to two goals after the Blues had cut it to 4-3. Kadri later assisted on Mikko Rantanen's empty-netter for a four-point night to set up Game 5 back in Denver, a potential elimination game for the Blues.

"I wanted to come out and put a mark on this game, especially with everything that happened. To do it on the road, it was pure," Kadri said.

On Sunday, hockey player Akim Aliu tweeted that he had spoken to Kadri and that the Avalanche center "has been subject to so many racist attacks and threats since last night that police had to be brought in."

Aliu and Kadri are founding members of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, an organization of current and former hockey players of color that is seeking to eradicate racism from the game. Kadri is a Muslim of Lebanese descent.

Kadri described the messages he received as "racial, threatening" when asked to define them.

"I wasn't that involved until the police were involved," Kadri said Monday night. "I guess some people contacted them about some hateful messages. I was able to read those messages. They were very extreme. I just tried to shake it off. [The police] did a good job assuring me and making me feel safe."

Kadri said he heard no racial taunts from the crowd on Monday, and he explained throughout his postgame interviews that he didn't want to paint the Blues fan base with a broad brush.

"What was said wasn't a reflection of every single fan in St. Louis. I want to make that clear," Kadri explained. "But for those who waste their time sending messages like that, I feel sorry for them."

Johnson couldn't help but be impressed by his teammate's effort and resiliency.

"I felt so good for him. Imagine being in his situation? No human being should have to receive that type of treatment, especially with a hockey game. It's just insane," Johnson said. "That being said, I think he liked being the villain tonight.

"Naz knew that we were with him and the organization is with him. You're not going to be fueled to win a game because of that. We have enough fuel. That being said, it definitely helped motivate Naz a little bit. How could you script it any better for him?"

BOSTON -- Despite a 102-82 drubbing at the hands of the Celtics in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra believes his team can return the favor in Game 5.

"We've proven that we can do it," Spoelstra said. "The margin for error for either team -- whatever they have done to us, we can do to them. None of us are happy about what happened tonight.

"This is part of the playoffs. There are these extreme highs and lows, particularly when you have two teams that are pretty closely, evenly matched. But we've proven that we can find solutions offensively in a lot of different ways."

What gives Spoelstra and his team so much belief is they have spent much of the season dealing with a variety of different injuries and still found a way to earn the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Heat showed no signs of panic late Monday night despite the lopsided affair, reinforcing that they can fix the problems no matter who is on the floor.

Heat guard Tyler Herro missed Monday's game because of a groin strain and his status for Game 5 is uncertain. Jimmy Butler is dealing with knee soreness but said he isn't "too worried" about the injury. P.J. Tucker (knee soreness) and Kyle Lowry (hamstring strain) are also dealing with ongoing issues but the Heat refuse to use those injuries as excuses for their poor play.

"Injuries is a part of this," Heat center Bam Adebayo said. "It's a part of playoffs. You learn to adapt. We're one of those teams, we've had so many injuries throughout the season that you know we've learned how to win. Guys being out, guys playing half, guys playing 20 minutes in the game, just depends."

Butler echoed a similar sentiment in regards to his knee issue.

"I'm straight," he said. "No excuse for how I played tonight. It [doesn't have anything] to do with my knee. I've just got to be better. I will be better. I'm not too worried about it."

That's the feeling that came through from several players -- despite the fact that the starting unit of Butler, Adebayo, Lowry, Tucker and Max Strus shot just 7-for-36 from the field.

"Keep the game extremely simple," Butler said of having confidence in being able to improve offensively. "Whenever we tend to do that, we tend to play well. When anybody tries to hit a home run and do it by themselves, we kind of get in trouble. Ball sticks. We turn the ball over. We take a bad shot. We just need to do everything together like we've been doing all year long.

"It will be on myself, on Kyle, on Bam to make sure that we make that happen."

As the Heat prepare for Wednesday's Game 5, they do so convinced they'll be able to turn things around in short order despite all the obstacles that appear to be in their way.

"We're not making any excuses," Spoelstra said. "They outplayed us tonight for sure. We never could get any kind of grip on the game. Outside of these like crazy runs, you have two really competitive teams. The scores and that kind of thing doesn't really give the true indication of how competitive it is. It can get away from either team at any time. That's what you saw tonight."

BOSTON -- When things have gone poorly for the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, it has been when they've lost focus and allowed Miami to speed them up and turn them over, leading to fast-break points -- the one consistent way the Heat have scored in this series.

That was the formula Miami used to fuel its victories in Games 1 and 3. And so, heading into Game 4, Boston knew that in order to even this series at two wins apiece, it would have to avoid falling into those same bad habits once again.

Mission accomplished.

The Celtics were utterly dominant at both ends from start to finish on Monday night. Boston scored the first eight points and never looked back, cruising to a wire-to-wire 102-82 victory in front of a sellout crowd at TD Garden to send this series back to the shores of Biscayne Bay for Game 5 on Wednesday, with both teams two wins away from a trip to the NBA Finals.

"Urgency," said Jayson Tatum, who led all scorers with 31 points, when asked to describe Boston's mindset entering Game 4. "That was a focal point coming into this game, to just have a sense of urgency on both ends of the floor, from start to finish. Really starting the game better, obviously, than we did last game. That's something that we talked about and something that we executed tonight."

In a series that has seen each game swing wildly from one direction to the other, it took about 10 seconds to realize Game 4 would follow a similar pattern. Boston immediately jumped out to an 8-0 lead before Miami scored a single point; and the Celtics eventually took an 18-1 lead before the Heat finally made their first field goal with 3:22 remaining in the first quarter when Victor Oladipo buried a 3-pointer.

By then, Miami had missed 14 consecutive shots to open the game, setting a tone for all that was to come over the final 40 minutes. The Heat simply never got out of first gear, as Boston -- even without the NBA's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Marcus Smart -- smothered Miami's starters into an abysmal combined 7-for-36 shooting performance, including going 1-for-10 from 3-point range.

In a summation of Boston's dominance, Tatum, who is now averaging 32.6 points per game during these playoffs following a loss, outscored Miami's starters by 13 points by himself.

"For everybody, the focus was great tonight," Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. "We understood we have to be more aggressive and physical on the defensive end.

"Nobody scored in double figures with their starters. ... I think we obviously set the tone right there. But we have a prideful team, one of the best defensive teams in the league as well as individuals, and they heard some of the things that were said and took pride in those matchups."

A big part of those struggles was Jimmy Butler once again having a rough night. Even without Smart out there to hound him, Butler -- who was dominant through the first two games, like he has been for virtually all of Miami's playoff run -- again looked off after sitting out the second half of Game 3, going 3-for-14 in 27 minutes and failing to even attempt a free throw.

Similarly, Bam Adebayo -- who went from scoring a combined 16 points in Games 1 and 2 to exploding for 31 in Game 3 -- again disappeared in Game 4, taking just five field goal attempts and recording nine points.

"Covering for each other, being in our spots, being where we were supposed to be," Celtics center Robert Williams, who returned after missing Game 3 with knee soreness, said in explaining what changed defensively for Boston from Game 3 to 4. "Last game, even though I didn't play, I noticed the slip-ups that we had on the defensive end, and that's where we hang our hat at.

"As far as energywise, the loss played a big part of the energy going into this game."

The Celtics, meanwhile, played like the desperate team from the jump -- helping themselves improve to 5-0 coming off of losses in these playoffs as a result. Derrick White, who said after the team's morning shootaround he was determined to be more aggressive, scored five points on Boston's first two possessions and hit the team's first three shots, while Al Horford stripped Adebayo on the opening defensive possession of the game.

After listlessly stumbling through the opening 12 minutes of Game 3, falling behind 39-18 and leaving themselves with a hole that proved just too big for them to dig themselves out of, this time it was the Celtics who opened up the 29-11 lead after one quarter.

And unlike in Game 3, Miami had no ability to make things even remotely competitive, as the Celtics remained firmly in control right until the final buzzer.

"It was extremely nice -- especially because we were winning," Tatum said with a smile of spending most of the fourth quarter on the bench watching Boston's reserves close things out.

Now, the focus for the Celtics is to try to bring the same "sense of urgency" that fueled them in Game 4 -- and after each of their losses in these playoffs, all of which have been followed by wins -- to Game 5. Boston has not handled prosperity well against either the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals or against the Heat in this round.

The Celtics know that in order to advance to the NBA Finals, they'll have to win another game in Miami -- and they know that keeping that same focus they had in Game 4 will be the thing that determines whether they can do so.

"It's kind of like a new series, best of three," Tatum said. "I think just having a conversation that I think human nature plays a part in, when you win a game, you can relax a little bit. But obviously, when we lose a game, we feel like the next game is do or die, and then we come out and play like we did and things like that.

"I think we have to have that mindset going into Game 5 that it is a must-win game, because tonight was essentially something like that. Everybody knew it. We could all feel it. I think that showed in the way we came out."